Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

"Forgiven." Matt kissed her once more and afterward his
cpression changed. "I had an interesting day"
"Interesting?" Hannah lowered her brow.
Matt grabbed his briefcase, slipped it into the closet, and led
the way into the living room. n er behind his head and exhaled long
on the sofa, he laced his f g
and slow. "We had a good-bye lunch for one of the guys at the firm.„
Confusion roused Hannah's curiosity. "Who's leaving, one of the interns?"
"Not an intern."
Hannah folded her arms. "Okay, I give up. Who?"
Matt settled back into the cushion and angled his head, his eyes locked on hers. "Tanner Eastman. Today
was his last day."
215 A sigh filtered through Patsy's lips as she limped across the
i
i
race's smile was missing.
Patsy Landers looked out the back window of her
Bartlesville home and realized that was what was different. Outside, Grace sat in the swing, still and
alone, staring at the
sky Her expression was wistful, far away It wasn't that she was sad, exactly. The past three weeks had
gone better than Patsy expected. Sure, Grace had cried some and asked about the Bronzans, but that was to
be expected. But by all standards-her sleep patterns, her personality, her behavior-she was adjusting. She
just wasn't smiling.
Patsy had enrolled her in preschool, and three days a week a
van with cartoon characters painted on the side picked her up at
eight and dropped her back at home at three. Grace brought
home artwork, sheets of carefully printed letters, and tales of playground
antics.
Patsy studied the child through the window once more. It
wasn't what she brought home that troubled Patsy.
It was what she didn't bring-the ear-to-ear smile that had
always been a part of Grace even when life was at its worst.
"What's wrong, honey?" Patsy would ask. "Is someone making
you sad at school?"
Grace would shrug her thin shoulders, barely lifting the corners
of her mouth. "No, Grandma. School's fine."
Patsy watched her now as the child shuffled her feet in the dirt
beneath the swing. Maybe that was it. Everything was fine, but
nothing was good.
214
Viable and ran her hand over the cover. 101 Things to Do with Your
hose something more practical. She stared at the book on the
the day, and Grace had picked out two Dr. Seuss books. Patsy
oor to the dining room table. They'd gone to the library earlier
Kids.
The book was full of activities for parents and their children. if even ten of them brought a spark of life to
Grace's disposition, it would be worth the time spent reading. Besides, there was no time like the present